Honiton Seconds 31
Tavistock Seconds 36
TAVISTOCK continued their impressive form with another determined and well-fought victory at sun-drenched Honiton.
Despite conditions being as hard as flint underfoot, and windy overhead, the much changed Moorlanders coped admirably with the pace and strength of Honiton, who could boast several first team members.
Despite what had been an even contest in the first half Tavistock found themselves behind following three Honiton tries, one of which was converted. The visitors' only reply was a penalty and a try from scrum-half Ambrose McGuire.
Despite the setback Tavistock stuck to their task doggedly and got their reward early in the second half with a try from Paul Williams barrelling over from five yards after good mauling by the forwards. This was converted by Martin Credicock.
A third try was added following a superb individual effort from second row Phil Maloney, who caught the ball straight from the kick off and continued a mazy 50-yard run through the entire Honiton team.
Tavistock extended their lead with 20 minutes to go when left winger Glen Martyn broke up a Honiton attack to sprint the length of the pitch and score between the posts.
Honiton retook the lead with some lax defence from Tavistock and extended it with another try.
With only five minutes to go it looked curtains for Tavistock, but pride and teamwork kept the away side going. The pack gave one last effort in a scrum on their own five-yard line and managed to win it against the head.
Paul Williams, breaking off the back of the scrum, surged forward and recycled the ball to Ambrose McGuire who outpaced the Honiton inside centre and timed his pass to perfection in releasing Credicott for Tavistock's fifth and decisive score with only two minutes left on the clock.
The win was made safe in injury time following a solo effort from just inside the Tavistock half by McGuire, which proved to be the icing on the cake for a gutsy and entertaining effort.